Methods and systems for dynamically processing media content on transportation vehicles

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided for a transportation vehicle. One method includes parsing by a processor on an aircraft, metadata of media content received by the aircraft, while the aircraft is in flight, the media content includes a media file and the metadata. The metadata indicates a start date when the media content can be presented to a device on the aircraft and an end date when media content is to become inaccessible. The method further includes dynamically generating a unique identifier for the media content by the processor, the unique identifier based on an aircraft identifier; updating the metadata by the processor by associating the unique identifier with the media content; storing the media content with the updated metadata and an indicator when the media content is to be deleted; and using the unique identifier by the processor for tracking usage of the media content on the aircraft.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to transportation vehicles in general,and more particularly, to processing media content on transportationvehicles.

BACKGROUND

Transportation vehicles, for example, aircraft, trains, buses,recreation vehicle, boats and other similar vehicles use variouscomputing devices for providing various functions, includingentertainment, system control, content storage, and other functions.These computing devices include hardware (for example, servers,switches, network interface cards, storage adapters, storage devices andothers) and software (for example, server applications, operatingsystems, firmware, management applications, application programminginterface (APIs) and others).

Transportation vehicles today have individualized functional equipmentdedicated to a particular passenger seat, which can be utilized by apassenger, such as adjustable seats, adjustable environmental controls,adjustable lighting, telephony systems, video and/or audio entertainmentsystems, crew communication systems, and the like. For example, manycommercial airplanes have individualized video and audio entertainmentsystems, often referred to as “in-flight entertainment” or “IFE”systems.

It has become quite commonplace for travelers to carry personalelectronic devices (PEDs) having wireless communication capability, suchas cellular phones, smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers,and other portable electronic devices. This includes passengers and crewtraveling on all types of transportation including the vehicles ofcommon carriers, such as airplanes, passenger trains, buses, cruiseships, sightseeing vehicles (e.g., ships, boats, buses, cars, etc.).Many of these personal electronic devices have the capability to executeapplication software programs (“apps”) to perform various functions,including controlling other devices and systems.

In conventional systems, typically media content loading ontransportation vehicles is scheduled. For example, for an aircraft,media content is typically loaded on a monthly basis while the aircraftis on the ground. This operation is referred to as “monthly medialoading”, when an airline sends media content to an IFE system provideron a monthly basis. The IFE system provider uses a portable media loaderto update media content to the aircraft. This conventional approach isinefficient because the airline has to wait for a month to upload mediacontent to the aircraft. The portable media loader also requirestechnicians to manually load media content, which makes the processlabor intensive. Continuous efforts are being made to develop computingtechnology for making media content available on transportation vehicleat any instance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various features of the present disclosure will now be describedwith reference to the drawings of the various aspects disclosed herein.In the drawings, the same components may have the same referencenumerals. The illustrated aspects are intended to illustrate, but not tolimit the present disclosure. The drawings include the followingFigures:

FIG. 1A shows an example of an operating environment for implementingthe various aspects of the present disclosure on an aircraft;

FIG. 1B shows an example of the operating environment on a non-aircrafttransportation vehicle type, according to one aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows an example of a content distribution system, used accordingto one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A shows an example of an overall system for distributinginformation to passengers on an aircraft, according to one aspect of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3B shows a block diagram of a media module used for processingmedia content, according to one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4A shows a process flow diagram for generating a unique identifierfor media content received on a transportation vehicle, according to oneaspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4B shows a process flow diagram for managing storage space formedia content on a transportation vehicle, according to one aspect ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 4C shows a process flow diagram for tracking usage of media contenton an aircraft, according to one aspect of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a computing system, used according toone aspect of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As a preliminary note, the terms “component”, “module”, “system”, andthe like as used herein are intended to refer to a computer-relatedentity, either software-executing general purpose processor, hardware,firmware or a combination thereof. For example, a component may be, butis not limited to being, a process running on a hardware processor, ahardware processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, aprogram, and/or a computer.

By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and theserver can be a component. One or more components may reside within aprocess and/or thread of execution, and a component may be localized onone computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Also,these components can execute from various computer readable media havingvarious data structures stored thereon. The components may communicatevia local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signalhaving one or more data packets (e.g., data from one componentinteracting with another component in a local system, distributedsystem, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systemsvia the signal).

Computer executable components can be stored, for example, onnon-transitory, computer/machine readable media including, but notlimited to, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), CD(compact disc), DVD (digital video disk), ROM (read only memory), harddisk, EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory),solid state memory device or any other storage device, in accordancewith the claimed subject matter.

Vehicle Information System: FIG. 1A shows an example of a genericvehicle information system 100A (also referred to as system 100A) thatcan be configured for installation aboard an aircraft 132, according toone aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, as described belowin detail, system 100A uses innovative computing technology of thepresent disclosure for loading media content on an aircraft 132 whilethe aircraft is airborne and/or when the media content is loaded outsideof a scheduled media content loading, e.g. monthly loading of mediacontent. The media content includes audio, video, or any other mediatype. The technology disclosed herein enables airlines to provide mediacontent via satellite connectivity any time including when the aircraftis in-flight and via wireless connectivity when the aircraft via acellular base station 123 (e.g., a cell phone tower). The airlines andmedia providers are not restricted to monthly updates and instead mediacontent is made available for consumption immediately, as describedbelow in detail.

When installed on an aircraft, system 100A can comprise an aircraftpassenger IFE system, such as the Series 2000, 3000, eFX, eX2, eXW, eX3,NEXT, and/or any other in-flight entertainment system developed andprovided by Panasonic Avionics Corporation (without derogation of anytrademark rights of Panasonic Avionics Corporation) of Lake Forest,Calif., the assignee of this application.

System 100A comprises at least one content source 113 and one or moreuser (or passenger) interface systems (may also be referred to as a seatdevice/seatback device) 114 that communicate with a real-time contentdistribution system 104. The content sources 113 may include one or moreinternal content sources, such as a media server system 112, that areinstalled aboard the aircraft 132, one or more remote (or terrestrial)content sources 116 that can be external from the aircraft 132, or adistributed content system. The media server system 112 can be providedas an information system controller for providing overall system controlfunctions for system 100A and/or for storing viewing content 124,including pre-programmed viewing content and/or content 120 downloadedto the aircraft, as desired. The viewing content 124 can includetelevision programming content, music content, podcast content,photograph album content, audiobook content, and/or movie contentwithout limitation. The viewing content as shown and described hereinare not exhaustive and are provided herein for purposes of illustrationonly and not for purposes of limitation.

The server system 112 can include, and/or communicate with, one or moreconventional peripheral media storage systems (not shown), includingoptical media devices, such as a digital video disk (DVD) system or acompact disk (CD) system, and/or magnetic media systems, such as a solidstate drive (SSD) system, or a hard disk drive (HDD) system, of anysuitable kind, for storing the preprogrammed content and/or thedownloaded content 120.

The viewing content 124 can comprise any conventional type of audioand/or video viewing content, such as stored (or time-delayed) viewingcontent and/or live (or real-time) viewing content. As desired, theviewing content 124 can include geographical information. Alternatively,and/or additionally, to entertainment content, such as live satellitetelevision programming and/or live satellite radio programming and/orlive wireless video/audio streaming, the viewing content likewise caninclude two-way communications, such as real-time access to the Internet118 and/or telecommunications and/or the cellular base station 123 thatcommunicates through an antenna 111 to a transceiver system 109, and acomputer system 107 (similar to computer system 106). The functionalityof computer system 107 is similar to computing system 106 fordistributing content using the content distribution system 104 describedherein. It is noteworthy that although two antenna systems 110/111 havebeen shown in FIG. 1A, the adaptive aspects disclosed herein may beimplemented by fewer or more antenna systems.

Being configured to distribute and/or present the viewing content 124provided by one or more selected content sources 113, system 100A cancommunicate with the content sources 113 in real time and in anyconventional manner, including via wired and/or wireless communications.System 100A and the terrestrial content source 116, for example, cancommunicate directly and/or indirectly via an intermediate communicationsystem, such as a satellite communication system 122 or the cellularbase station 123.

System 100A can receive content 120 from a selected terrestrial contentsource 116 and/or transmit (upload) content 128, including navigationand other control instructions, to the terrestrial content source 116.In one aspect, content 120 includes media content that is storedpersistently on the aircraft for passenger consumption. The mediacontent for persistence storage is handled differently than livetelevision content, as described below. As desired, the terrestrialcontent source 116 can be configured to communicate with otherterrestrial content sources (not shown). The terrestrial content source116 is shown as providing access to the Internet 118. Although shown anddescribed as comprising the satellite communication system 122 and thecellular base station 123 for purposes of illustration, thecommunication system can comprise any conventional type of wirelesscommunication system, such as any wireless communication system and/oran Aircraft Ground Information System (AGIS) communication system.

To facilitate communications with the terrestrial content sources 116,system 100A may also include an antenna system 110 and a transceiversystem 108 for receiving the viewing content from the remote (orterrestrial) content sources 116. The antenna system 110 preferably isdisposed outside, such as an exterior surface of a fuselage 136 of theaircraft 132. The antenna system 110 can receive viewing content 124from the terrestrial content source 116 and provide the received viewingcontent 124, as processed by the transceiver system 108, to a computersystem 106 of system 100A. The computer system 106 can provide thereceived viewing content 124 to the media (or content) server system 112and/or directly to one or more of the user interfaces 114 including aPED, as desired. Although shown and described as being separate systemsfor purposes of illustration, the computer system 106 and the mediaserver system 112 can be at least partially integrated.

The user interface system 114 may be computing terminals incommunication with an access point 130. The user interface system 114provides a display device to view content. The user interface system 114includes a hardware interface to connect to an access point 130 thatprovides a wired and/or a wireless connection for the user interfacesystem.

In at least one embodiment, the user interface system 114 comprises asoftware application that a user downloads and installs on a personalelectronic device (PED) to receive and view content via an access point130, described below in detail. While bandwidth limitation issues mayoccur in a wired system on a vehicle, such as an aircraft 132, ingeneral the wired portion of the vehicle information 100A system isdesigned with sufficient bandwidth to support all users aboard thevehicle, i.e., passengers.

The user interface system 114 can include an input system (not shown)for permitting the user (or passenger) to communicate with system 100A,such as via an exchange of control signals 138. For example, the inputsystem can permit the user to input one or more user instructions 140for controlling the operation of system 100A. Illustrative userinstructions 140 can include instructions for initiating communicationwith the content source 113, instructions for selecting viewing content124 for presentation, and/or instructions for controlling thepresentation of the selected viewing content 124. If a fee is requiredfor accessing the viewing content 124 or for any other reason, paymentinformation likewise can be entered via the input system. The inputsystem can be provided in any conventional manner and typically includesa touch screen, application programming interface (API), one or moreswitches (or pushbuttons), such as a keyboard or a keypad, and/or apointing device, such as a mouse, trackball, or stylus.

In one aspect, the user interface system 114 is provided on individualpassenger seats of aircraft 132. The user interface system 114 can beadapted to different aircraft and seating arrangements and the adaptiveaspects described herein are not limited to any specific seatarrangements or user interface types.

FIG. 1B shows an example of implementing the vehicle information system100B (may be referred to as system 100B) on an automobile 134 that mayinclude a bus, a recreational vehicle, a boat, and/or a train, or anyother type of passenger vehicle without limitation. The variouscomponents of system 100B may be similar to the components of system100A described above with respect to FIG. 1A and for brevity are notdescribed again.

Content Distribution System:

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the content distribution system 104 forthe vehicle information system 200 (similar to 100A/100B), according toone aspect of the present disclosure. The content distribution system104 couples, and supports communication between the server system 112,and the plurality of user interface systems 114.

The content distribution system 104, for example, can be provided as aconventional wired and/or wireless communication network, including atelephone network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a campus area network (CAN), personal area network (PAN) and/or awireless local area network (WLAN) of any kind. Exemplary wireless localarea networks include wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks in accordancewith Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard802.11 and/or wireless metropolitan-area networks (MANs), which also areknown as WiMax Wireless Broadband, in accordance with IEEE Standard802.16.

Preferably being configured to support high data transfer rates, thecontent distribution system 104 may comprise a high-speed Ethernetnetwork, such as any type of Fast Ethernet (such as 100 Base-X and/or100 Base-T) communication network and/or Gigabit (such as 1000 Base-Xand/or 1000 Base-T) Ethernet communication network, with a typical datatransfer rate of at least approximately one hundred megabits per second(100 Mbps) or any other transfer rate. To achieve high data transferrates in a wireless communications environment, free-space optics (orlaser) technology, millimeter wave (or microwave) technology, and/orUltra-Wideband (UWB) technology can be utilized to supportcommunications among the various system resources, as desired.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the distribution system 104 can be provided asa plurality of area distribution boxes (ADBs) 206, a plurality of floordisconnect boxes (FDBs) 208, and a plurality of seat electronics boxes(SEBs) (and/or video seat electronics boxes (VSEBs) and/or premium seatelectronics boxes (PSEBs)) 210 being configured to communicate in realtime via a plurality of wired and/or wireless communication connections212.

The distribution system 104 likewise can include a switching system 202for providing an interface between the distribution system 104 and theserver system 112. The switching system 202 can comprise a conventionalswitching system, such as an Ethernet switching system, and isconfigured to couple the server system 112 with the ADBs 206. Each ofthe ADBs 206 is coupled with, and communicates with, the switchingsystem 202. In addition, the distribution system 104 includes one ormore wireless access points (WAPs) (130A to 130N) connected incommunication with the switch system 202 for wireless distribution ofcontent to user interface systems 114 including PEDs.

Each of the ADBs 202, in turn, is coupled with, and communicates with,at least one FDB 208. Although the ADBs 206 and the associated FDBs 208can be coupled in any conventional configuration, the associated FDBs208 preferably are disposed in a star network topology about a centralADB 206 as illustrated in FIG. 2. Each FDB 208 is coupled with, andservices, a plurality of daisy-chains of SEBs 210. The SEBs 210, inturn, are configured to communicate with the user interface systems 114.Each SEB 210 can support one or more of the user interface systems 114.

The switching systems 202, the ADBs 206, the FDBs 208, the SEBs (and/orVSEBs), and/or PSEBs) 210, the antenna system 110 (or 111), thetransceiver system 108, the content source 113, the server system 112,and other system resources of the vehicle information system preferablyare provided as line replaceable units (LRUs). The use of LRUsfacilitate maintenance of the vehicle information system 200 because adefective LRU can simply be removed from the vehicle information system200 and replaced with a new (or different) LRU. The defective LRUthereafter can be repaired for subsequent installation. Advantageously,the use of LRUs can promote flexibility in configuring the contentdistribution system 104 by permitting ready modification of the number,arrangement, and/or configuration of the system resources of the contentdistribution system 104. The content distribution system 104 likewisecan be readily upgraded by replacing any obsolete LRUs with new LRUs.

The distribution system 104 can include at least one FDB internal portbypass connection 214 and/or at least one SEB loopback connection 216.Each FDB internal port bypass connection 214 is a communicationconnection 212 that permits FDBs 208 associated with different ADBs 206to directly communicate. Each SEB loopback connection 216 is acommunication connection 212 that directly couples the last SEB 210 ineach daisy-chain of seat electronics boxes 210 for a selected FDB 208 asshown in FIG. 2. Each SEB loopback connection 216 therefore forms aloopback path among the daisy-chained seat electronics boxes 210 coupledwith the relevant FDB 208.

It is noteworthy that the various aspects of the present disclosure maybe implemented without using FDB 208. When FDB 208 is not used, ADB 206communicates directly with SEB 210 and/or server system 112 maycommunicate directly with SEB 210 or the seats. The various aspects ofthe present disclosure are not limited to any specific networkconfiguration.

System 300:

FIG. 3A shows an example of a system 300 for persistently storing andmanaging media content received by an aircraft (or any othertransportation vehicle) while the aircraft is in-flight and/or outsideof scheduled media updates, according to one aspect of the presentdisclosure. The media content is managed by a media module 386 executedby an onboard management system 344 described below in detail

In one aspect, system 300 includes, the onboard management system 344, aseat device 326, a PED 302, and a crew management device (may bereferred to as “CMD”) 360. In another aspect, system 300 may not includea seat device 326. The onboard management system 344 may be similar tocomputer system 106 and/or server 112 described above with respect toFIGS. 1A/1B.

In one aspect, the onboard management system 344 includes a server 354(similar to the media server 112 and/or computer system 106/107). Theserver 354 includes a processor 346 that has access to a memory 350 viaa bus system/interconnect (similar to 312 on seat device 326). The bussystem may represent any one or more separate physical buses and/orpoint-to-point connections, connected by appropriate bridges, adaptersand/or controllers. The bus system may include, for example, a systembus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express bus, aHyperTransport or industry standard architecture (ISA) bus, a smallcomputer system interface (SCSI) bus, a universal serial bus (USB), oran Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard1394 bus (sometimes referred to as “Firewire”) or any other interconnecttype.

Processor 346 may be, or may include, one or more programmable,hardware-based, general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors,digital signal processors (DSPs), programmable controllers, applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs),or the like, or a combination of such devices.

Processor 346 has access to a storage device 348 that may be used tostore data (for example, passenger data 352, media usage data structure320 (may also be referred to as data structure 320), metadata datastructure 382 (may also be referred to as data structure 382), mediacontent or any other information) applications and program files,including system software 356, an application 314, the media module 386(may also be referred to as module 386) and others. Module 386 managesmedia content that is loaded on to the aircraft when the aircraft is inflight. Media module 386 maintains the data structure 382 that includesmetadata that is received for media content and fields inserted by themedia module 386, as described below in detail.

In another aspect, server 354 stores the data structure 320 thatincludes a usage pattern for media content that is accessed bypassengers. In one aspect, the various seat devices 326 provide portionsof the data structure 320 and the media module 386 generates the datastructure 320 to store the usage pattern. Details of data structure 320are provided below.

In one aspect, system software 356 is executed by the processor 346 tocontrol the overall operation of the server 354. Application 314 may bedownloaded from server 354 by passengers using an authorized PED 302 foraccessing digital content.

In one aspect, the onboard management system 344 maintains flight andpassenger data 352 (may also be referred to as data 352), for example,flight itinerary including origin location, layover locations,destination location, language preference for translating messages fromone language to another, arrival time and other information. Data 352may also include passenger data that identifies each passenger for aflight, a seat assigned to a passenger, a language preference for thepassenger, and any other information that can uniquely identify thepassengers. Data 352 may be retrieved from the ground system (369, FIG.3B) before flight departure.

In one aspect, server 354 communicates with CMD 360, PED 302 and/or seatdevice 326 via a communication interface 358. The communicationinterface 358 may also be used to receive information from the ground,for example, data 352 and other information. The communication interface358 includes one or more interfaces for a wired and/or wirelessconnection, as described above with respect to FIGS. 1A/1B and 2.

In one aspect, the seat device 326 includes a display device 330, aprocessor 332, a memory 340, a seat device communication interface (alsoreferred to as communication interface) 328 and a local storage device342 for storing content. The seat device may optionally include a camera337 and a microphone 336. The camera may be used to take pictures andvides and the microphone may be used for receiving voice input.

In one aspect, the seat device 326 receives user input/requests via aninput module 338. The input module 338 may be configured to use a localtouch screen included with display 330, a local virtual keyboard, anexternal mouse, external keyboard or any other input device. The seatdevice 326 may store portions of the media usage data structure 320. Thedata structure 320 may be used to track media content usage on the seatdevice 326 as described below in detail.

In one aspect, processor 332 has access to memory 340 via aninterconnect 312. Processor 332 may be, or may include, one or moreprogrammable general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, digitalsignal processors (DSPs), programmable controllers, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or thelike, or a combination of such devices.

The bus system 312 is an abstraction that represents any one or moreseparate physical buses and/or point-to-point connections, connected byappropriate bridges, adapters and/or controllers. The bus system 312,therefore, may include, for example, a system bus, a PeripheralComponent Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express bus, a HyperTransport orindustry standard architecture (ISA) bus, a small computer systeminterface (SCSI) bus, a universal serial bus (USB), or an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 1394 bus (sometimesreferred to as “Firewire”) or any other interconnect type.

In one aspect, processor 332 executes an IFE layer 334 out of memory340. The IFE layer 334 provides in-flight entertainment and otheroptions to users. The IFE layer 334 provides audio/video content as wellas controls for accessing the content.

In one aspect, the IFE layer 334 uses the seat device communicationinterface 328 to interface with the PED 302 and/or onboard managementsystem 344. The communication interface 328 includes logic and circuitryfor interfacing with the onboard management system 344 and/or PED 302.In one aspect, the communication interface 328 may use a wireless and/orwired connection for such communication.

In another aspect, the seat device 326 may also execute the application314 that may be used by the passenger to view media content or variouscomputing functions that are enabled by the seat device 326. Theapplication 314 when executed by the seat device 326 may have differentfunctionality compared to when application 314 is executed by the PED302.

The seat device 326 on the aircraft may be part of the user interfacesystem 114 or interfaces with the user interface system 114 alsodescribed above with respect to FIGS. 1A/1B. It is noteworthy that theseat device 326 need not be mounted on the back of a seat and may besupported from other structures, such as a bulkhead, wall, arm of aseat, etc. The adaptive aspects of the present disclosure are notlimited to any specific location or orientation of the seat device 326.

In one aspect, server 354 communicates with the CMD 360 that may be amobile phone, a notebook, a tablet, a laptop or any other similardevice. CMD 360 may include a processor 362 that has access to a memory364 via a bus system/interconnect (similar to 312) for executing storedinstructions. The bus system may represent any one or more separatephysical buses and/or point-to-point connections, connected byappropriate bridges, adapters and/or controllers. The bus system mayinclude, for example, a system bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect(PCI) bus, a PCI-Express bus, a HyperTransport or industry standardarchitecture (ISA) bus, a small computer system interface (SCSI) bus, auniversal serial bus (USB), or an Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 1394 bus (sometimes referred to as“Firewire”) or any other interconnect type.

Processor 362 may be, or may include, one or more programmable, hardwarebased, general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, digitalsignal processors (DSPs), programmable controllers, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or thelike, or a combination of such hardware devices.

In one aspect, CMD 360 includes a display 322 to display information.Display 322 may also include a touch screen for receiving inputcommands. CMD 360 typically includes a microphone 336 for receiving avoice input. CMD 360 may also include a camera 337 for taking picturesor making a video.

The CMD 360 may also include a storage device 324 that may be, or mayinclude any storage medium for storing data in a non-volatile manner,such as one or more magnetic or optical based disks, flash memory, orsolid-state drive. The storage device 316 may be used to store a crewmanagement interface (CMI) 318 that may be executed out of memory 364.

The CMI 318 enables the CMD 360 to interface with the onboard managementsystem 344 via a CMD communication module 366. The CMD 360 may presentone or more APIs to the management system 344 to retrievepassenger/flight data and update data structure 320. The non-limitingAPI format and syntax will depend on the protocols used by the CMD 360and the onboard management system 344.

In one aspect, the CMD communication module 366 is also used tocommunicate with the seat device 326, when installed, and one or morePEDs 302. In one aspect, the CMD communication module 366 may includeone or more interfaces to communicate with different devices, includingWi-Fi interface, Bluetooth interface, NFC (Near Field Communication)interface and others. The adaptive aspects described herein are notlimited to any specific interface. It is noteworthy that although asingle block is shown for the CMD communication module 366 forconvenience, the communication module may have different interface,cards, logic and circuitry to comply with the different communicationprotocols/standards.

In one aspect, the PED 302 is paired with the seat device 326. The PED302 may be a mobile phone, a notebook, a tablet, a laptop or any othercomputing device. PED 302 may include a processor 306 that has access toa memory 310 via a bus system/interconnect (similar to 312 on the seatdevice 326) for executing stored instructions. The bus system mayrepresent any one or more separate physical buses and/or point-to-pointconnections, connected by appropriate bridges, adapters and/orcontrollers. The bus system may include, for example, a system bus, aPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express bus, aHyperTransport or industry standard architecture (ISA) bus, a smallcomputer system interface (SCSI) bus, a universal serial bus (USB), oran Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard1394 bus (sometimes referred to as “Firewire”) or any other interconnecttype.

Processor 306 may be, or may include, one or more programmable, hardwarebased, general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, digitalsignal processors (DSPs), programmable controllers, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or thelike, or a combination of such hardware devices.

PEDs 302 may include a microphone 336 for receiving a voice input from apassenger. The voice input is converted into text by an application 314for processing. In another aspect, PED 302 also includes a camera 337that may be used by a passenger to upload a video.

The PED 302 includes a storage device 316 that may be, or may includeany storage medium for storing data in a non-volatile manner, such asone or more magnetic or optical based disks, flash memory, orsolid-state drive. The storage device 316 may be used to store contentdisplayed on a display 304 of PED 302 when used by a passenger. In oneaspect, display 304 may include a touch screen for receiving inputcommands.

The storage device 316 may also store the application 314 that isexecuted out of memory 310. Application 314 may be used to pair the PED302 with the aircraft systems to receive content and communicate withCMD 360.

As an example, application 314 may be made available for download andinstallation via a public repository such as that maintainedrespectively under the trademark GOOGLE PLAY by Google, Inc. and/or theAPP STORE maintained by Apple Inc. In addition, application 314 may beprovided for download by an airline carrier on a website or from theonboard management system 344.

In one aspect, PED 302 uses a PED communication module 308 tocommunicate with the seat device 326 and/or CMD 360, when installed. Inone aspect, PED communication module 308 may include one or moreinterfaces to communicate with different devices, including Wi-Fiinterface, Bluetooth interface, NFC (Near Field Communication) interfaceand others. The adaptive aspects described herein are not limited to anyspecific interface. It is noteworthy that although a single block isshown for the PED communication module 308 for convenience, thecommunication module may have different interface, cards, logic andcircuitry to comply with the different communicationprotocols/standards.

Media Module 386:

FIG. 3B shows an example of the media module 386 as used on an aircraft,according to one aspect of the present disclosure. The media module 386receives media content 368 from a ground-based system 369. The groundbased system may include one or more computing systems that provide themedia content 368 to the aircraft. As an example, the media content 368includes a media file and metadata associated with the media file. Forexample, the media content 368 metadata may include a time stamp whenthe media content is received, a time stamp of when the media contentwas generated, the size and type of media file, ownership information(e.g. licensor and licensee information), information indicating a typeof encryption or encoding that may have been used to protect the mediafile, a part number, a version number, or any other parameter.

In one aspect media content 368 is generated by a content provider usinga common user interface. For example, an airline is provided the commonuser interface by the ground based system 369 to define metadata fordifferent media types, including audio, video, DVD or broadcast channelmetadata.

In one aspect, the media content 368 is configured to operate as anindependent media loadable unit (MPU) i.e. the media content 368 can beprocessed independently without relying on another MPU or sub-MPU. Thisis different from conventional MPUs where various media files are partof a “large” MPU that is loaded on a monthly basis.

In one aspect, the ground computing system 369 tracks the media content368 that may be created for a specific airline or specific IFE system.The ground system 369 may also track storage usage on the aircraft forloading the media content 368, as described below in detail.

The media content 368 is received by a receive module 372 thattemporarily stores the media content 368 on a temporary storagelocation, for example, on a buffer allocated for dynamic media contenton the memory 350. In one aspect, media content 368 is first received bythe communication interface 358 (FIG. 3A) that may use the Remote DirectAccess Memory (RDMA) protocol to place the content in memory 350. Oncethe media content is temporarily stored, the media processing module 374is notified.

The media processing module 374 dynamically generates a uniqueidentifier for the media content 368. The unique identifier may be basedon one or more of a time stamp of when the media content is received, aunique identifier of the aircraft (e.g. a tail identifier), a randomnumber that is generated by a random number generator, an airlineidentifier or any other field. It is noteworthy that the mediaprocessing module 374 may include a random number generator orinterfaces with a random generator to generate the random number for theunique identifier. Once the unique identifier is generated, the metadatafor the media content 368 is updated on the data structure 382.

The media content 368 is persistently stored on storage 348 forstreaming to seat devices and/or PEDs. The media content is stored witha flag indicating when the media content can be automatically deleted.In another aspect, the media content 368 may be stored on one or moreseat device 326 or distributed among the seat devices by a distributionmodule 376. When the media content 368 is stored on one or more seatdevices, then the data structure 382 or a portion of the data structure382 is also stored on the one or more seat devices.

In one aspect, the distribution module 376 generates an output 378 thatis sent to the seat devices 326. The output 378 includes the uniqueidentifier for the media content 368 and indicates to the IFE layer 334that media content is available for streaming. The unique identifieralso indicates a location of where the media content is stored on theaircraft. In another aspect, output 378 includes the media content andthe updated metadata with the unique identifier. Details regarding theuse of media module 386 and processing of media content received whilethe aircraft is in flight is described below in detail.

In one aspect, media module 386 is configured to maintain a delete log383 (may also be referred to as data structure 383) that tracks mediacontent that is auto-deleted, based on an auto delete process of thepresent disclosure, described below in detail. In one aspect, the datastructure 383 includes the unique identifier assigned by the mediaprocessing module 374 and other metadata of the deleted media content.The delete log 383 may be provided to the ground system 369 that tracksmedia loading for various aircraft and airlines.

Process Flow:

FIG. 4A shows a process 400 according to one aspect of the presentdisclosure. The various adaptive aspects of process 420 are describedbelow with respect to an aircraft but are equally applicable on anytransportation vehicle. Process 400 begins in block B402 when anaircraft is mobile (e.g. in flight) or when the aircraft is outside of ascheduled media loading operation (for example, a monthly media loadingoperation that typically takes place once a month while the aircraft ison the ground).

In block B404, new media content 368 is received on the aircraft. Themedia content may be received via a satellite connect or any other typeof wireless network connection. The media content 368 is transmitted tothe aircraft by the ground system 369. As explained above, the mediacontent 368 may be generated by any third party and uploaded using acommon user interface provided by the ground system 369. The mediacontent 368 is received by the communication interface 358 of server 354for a system that uses a centralized server. In a server-less system,the media content 368 may be received by a networking device thatforwards the media content to a computing device operating as a “master”device within a network of devices.

In block B406, the received media content 368 is temporarily bufferedfor processing. The memory buffers for storing the media content 368 maybe directly accessible to the communication interface 358 i.e. thecommunication interface 358 may place the media content on the memorybuffers and notify the media module 386 and/or or the system software356 of the received media content. The media module 386 parses themetadata associated with the media content 368 to ascertain a start datewhen the media content can be streamed and an end date when streaming isto be terminated. It is noteworthy that this determination is only madewhen a media content provider includes that information either in themetadata or otherwise, when the media content is sent to the aircraft.

In block B408, the media processing module 374 dynamically generates aunique identifier for the media content 368. The unique identifierenables the aircraft system to control streaming of the media content toseat devices and/or PEDs, as well as to track usage of the media contenton the aircraft. The unique identifier is based on one or moreparameters, for example, an aircraft tail identifier (a uniqueidentifier for identifying an aircraft), a timestamp indicating when themedia content was received, the start date, the end date, airlineidentifier, an identifier indicating a class of a cabin (e.g. firstclass, business class, economy or others) or any other parameter. It isnoteworthy that when the cabin class identifier is used to generate theunique identifier with the other fields' then more than one identifieris generated for the media content 368.

In block B410, the media module 374 transforms the received metadatawith the unique identifier. The transformed metadata is then stored ondata structure 382. Thereafter, in block B412, the media content ispersistently stored on a storage device on the aircraft and the uniqueidentifier is transmitted to the various seat devices such that the seatdevices can select streaming the media content received in block B404.It is noteworthy that when the media content is the “latest” addition toa media library, then the media content may first be made available tothe passengers that are located on premium aircraft seats. By using acabin class identifier as one of the fields of the unique identifier,the distribution module 376 can easily select the unique identifiersthat correspond to a particular cabin class for transmission.

FIG. 4B shows a process 420 for managing storage space on atransportation vehicle for storing media content, according to oneaspect of the present disclosure. The various adaptive aspects ofprocess 420 are described with respect to an aircraft but are equallyapplicable on any transportation vehicle. Process 420 begins in blockB422 after media content 368 has been received, processed andpersistently stored on the aircraft.

In block B424, the storage space on the aircraft is monitored. In oneaspect this includes monitoring storage capacity of storage device 348by system software 356 (or any other storage utility application). Whenmedia content is distributed among the seat devices, then storage usageof storage device 342 is monitored by firmware of the seat device (notshown), the IFE layer 334 or any other processor executableapplication/utility. In one aspect, storage capacity usage istransmitted to the ground system 369 on a regular basis.

In block B426, the process determines that storage capacity has reacheda configurable threshold value. The configurable threshold size variesbased on the type of aircraft, aircraft route, storage capacity on theaircraft, the type of media content that is persistently stored or anyother parameter. Thereafter, media module 386 identifies the mediacontent that may be candidates for deletion. The identification may bebased on one or more parameters, e.g. the end date for the media contentindicated by a flag in data structure 382, the frequency of how oftenmedia content is viewed, or any other factor. System software 356 and/ormedia module 386 may examine the data structures 382 and 320 to identifythe media content for automatic deletion.

In block B428, the identified files are automatically deleted. In blockB430, data structure 383 is updated. The updated data structure 383 istransmitted to the ground based system 369 that tracks media contentthat is provided to a specific aircraft.

Since storage space on the aircraft is limited, the media content isconfigured to be automatically deleted when the storage capacity reachesthe configurable threshold size. This efficiently maintains storagespace without manual intervention.

FIG. 4C shows a process 432 for streaming and tracking usage of mediacontent 368, according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Thevarious adaptive aspects of process 420 are described with respect to anaircraft but are equally applicable on any transportation vehicle.Process 432 begins in block B434 when media content 368 has beenreceived and stored on the aircraft.

In block B436, the distribution module 376 transmits the uniqueidentifiers of media content that is received while an aircraft is inflight or outside its planned media loading schedule. The uniqueidentifiers are provided to the PEDs and/or seat devices. The uniqueidentifiers may be used to indicate locations of where the media contentassociated with the unique identifiers are stored on the aircraft.

In block B438, the media content associated with one or more uniqueidentifier is streamed to a PED and/or seat device. The passenger usageor viewing of the media content is tracked. In one aspect, the IFE layer334 tracks the duration when the media content is being viewed, thenumber of times a passenger streams the media content, the type ofpassenger (i.e. seated in first class or economy), the demographics ofthe passenger (age, or any other information) streaming the mediacontent or any other related parameter. The usage is stored in datastructure 320. In one aspect, the media module 386 identifies mediacontent that may be similar to the media content viewed by thepassenger. The related content is presented in block B442. Based on thepassenger interaction of the related content, data structure 320 isupdated. The updated data structure is provided to the ground system 369in block B444. The ground system 369 uses machine learning toconsolidate data structure 320 from different aircraft for identifyingor updating relevant content associated with media content that is madeavailable on the aircraft. Thereafter, the process ends.

In one aspect, methods and systems are provided for a transportationvehicle. One method includes receiving media content on a transportationvehicle while the transportation vehicle is mobile, the media contentincluding a media file and metadata associated with the media file, themetadata indicating a media file type and media content size; parsingthe metadata by a processor on the transportation vehicle to ascertain astart date when the media content can be presented to a device on thetransportation vehicle and an end date when media content is to becomeinaccessible; dynamically generating a unique identifier for the mediacontent by the processor, the unique identifier based on at least one ofan identifier of the transportation vehicle, a random number and atimestamp indicating when the media content was received by thetransportation vehicle; using the unique identifier by the processor totransform the metadata; storing the media content with the transformedmetadata on a storage device on the transportation vehicle, the storedmedia content using an indicator to indicate when the media content isto be deleted; using the unique identifier by the processor for trackingusage of the media content on the transportation vehicle; automaticallydeleting by the processor, the media content from the storage devicebased on the unique identifier and the indicator; and updating a datastructure by the processor to indicate that the media content has beendeleted.

In another aspect, another method includes parsing by a processor on anaircraft, metadata of media content received by the aircraft, while theaircraft is in flight, the media content includes a media file and themetadata. The metadata indicates a start date when the media content canbe presented to a device on the aircraft and an end date when mediacontent is to become inaccessible. The method further includesdynamically generating a unique identifier for the media content by theprocessor, the unique identifier based on an aircraft identifier;updating the metadata by the processor by associating the uniqueidentifier with the media content; storing by the processor, on astorage device on the aircraft, the media content with the updatedmetadata and an indicator when the media content is to be deleted; andusing the unique identifier by the processor for tracking usage of themedia content on the aircraft.

Processing System:

FIG. 5 is a high-level block diagram showing an example of thearchitecture of a processing system 500 that may be used according toone aspect. The processing system 500 can represent a ground system 369,CMD 360, media server 112, computing system 106/107, WAP 130, onboardmanagement system 344, seat device 326 or any user device (PED 302) thatattempts to interface with a vehicle computing device. Note that certainstandard and well-known components which are not germane to the presentaspects are not shown in FIG. 5.

The processing system 500 includes one or more processor(s) 502 andmemory 504, coupled to a bus system 505. The bus system 505 shown inFIG. 5 is an abstraction that represents any one or more separatephysical buses and/or point-to-point connections, connected byappropriate bridges, adapters and/or controllers. The bus system 505,therefore, may include, for example, a system bus, a PeripheralComponent Interconnect (PCI) bus, a HyperTransport or industry standardarchitecture (ISA) bus, a small computer system interface (SCSI) bus, auniversal serial bus (USB), or an Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 1394 bus (sometimes referred to as“Firewire”) or any other interconnect type.

The processor(s) 502 are the central processing units (CPUs) of theprocessing system 500 and, thus, control its overall operation. Incertain aspects, the processors 502 accomplish this by executingsoftware stored in memory 504. A processor 502 may be, or may include,one or more programmable general-purpose or special-purposemicroprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), programmablecontrollers, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs),programmable logic devices (PLDs), or the like, or a combination of suchdevices.

Memory 504 represents any form of random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), flash memory, or the like, or a combination of suchdevices. Memory 504 includes the main memory of the processing system500. Instructions 506 may be used to implement module 386, application314, data structures 320 and 382 and/or the process steps of FIGS. 4A-4Cdescribed above.

Also connected to the processors 502 through the bus system 505 are oneor more internal mass storage devices 510, and a network adapter 512.Internal mass storage devices 510 may be, or may include anyconventional medium for storing large volumes of data in a non-volatilemanner, such as one or more magnetic or optical based disks, flashmemory, or solid-state drive.

The network adapter 512 provides the processing system 500 with theability to communicate with remote devices (e.g., over a network) andmay be, for example, an Ethernet adapter or the like.

The processing system 500 also includes one or more input/output (I/O)devices 508 coupled to the bus system 505. The I/O devices 508 mayinclude, for example, a display device, a keyboard, a mouse, etc. TheI/O device may be in the form of a handset having one or more of theforegoing components, such as a display with a real or virtual keyboard,buttons, and/or other touch-sensitive surfaces.

Thus, methods and systems for dynamically loading and processing mediacontent on transportation vehicles have been described. Note thatreferences throughout this specification to “one aspect” (or“embodiment”) or “an aspect” mean that a particular feature, structureor characteristic described in connection with the aspect is included inat least one aspect of the present disclosure. Therefore, it isemphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to “anaspect” or “one aspect” or “an alternative aspect” in various portionsof this specification are not necessarily all referring to the sameaspect. Furthermore, the particular features, structures orcharacteristics being referred to may be combined as suitable in one ormore aspects of the disclosure, as will be recognized by those ofordinary skill in the art.

While the present disclosure is described above with respect to what iscurrently considered its preferred aspects, it is to be understood thatthe disclosure is not limited to that described above. To the contrary,the disclosure is intended to cover various modifications and equivalentarrangements within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving media content bya transportation vehicle while the transportation vehicle is mobile, themedia content including a media file and metadata associated with themedia file, the metadata indicating a media file type and media contentsize; parsing the metadata by a processor on the transportation vehicleto ascertain a start date when the media content can be presented to adevice on the transportation vehicle and an end date when the mediacontent is to become inaccessible; dynamically generating on thetransportation vehicle, upon receiving the media content and parsing themetadata, a unique identifier for the media content by the processor,the unique identifier based on an identifier of the transportationvehicle, a random number and a timestamp indicating when the mediacontent was received by the transportation vehicle; using the uniqueidentifier by the processor to transform the metadata; storing the mediacontent with the transformed metadata on a storage device on thetransportation vehicle, the stored media content using an indicator toindicate when the media content is to be deleted, based on the end date;transmitting, by the processor, the unique identifier to a plurality ofdevices on the transportation vehicle indicating that the media contentassociated with the unique identifier is available for streaming on thetransportation vehicle; using the unique identifier by the processor fortracking usage of the media content by the plurality of devices on thetransportation vehicle; automatically deleting by the processor, themedia content from the storage device based on the unique identifier,the tracked usage and the indicator; and updating a data structure bythe processor to indicate that the media content has been deleted. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising: tracking, by the processor,storage capacity usage on the transportation vehicle and deleting, bythe processor, the media content to increase available storage space forother media content.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein an entertainmentsystem on the transportation vehicle tracks usage of the media contentby a user for presenting content related to the media content.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the transportation vehicle is an aircraft andthe media content is received in-flight via a satellite connection. 5.The method of claim 4, further comprising: transmitting, by theprocessor, the updated data structure to a ground based server system totrack live media content provided to a plurality of aircrafts.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: providing, by the processor, theunique identifier to a seat device of the transportation vehicle toindicate a storage location of the media content to the seat device. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the transportation vehicle is one of abus, a train, a recreational vehicle and a ship.
 8. A non-transitorymachine readable medium having stored thereon instructions forperforming a method comprising machine executable code which whenexecuted by at least one machine, causes the machine to: receive mediacontent by a transportation vehicle while the transportation vehicle ismobile, the media content including a media file and metadata associatedwith the media file, the metadata indicating a media file type and mediacontent size; parse the metadata to ascertain a start date when themedia content can be presented to a device on the transportation vehicleand an end date when media content is to become inaccessible;dynamically generate on the transportation vehicle upon receiving themedia content and parsing the metadata, a unique identifier for themedia content, the unique identifier based on an identifier of thetransportation vehicle, a random number and a timestamp indicating whenthe media content was received by the transportation vehicle; use theunique identifier to transform the metadata; store the media contentwith the transformed metadata on a storage device on the transportationvehicle, the stored media content using an indicator to indicate whenthe media content is to be deleted, based on the end date; transmit theunique identifier to a plurality of devices on the transportationvehicle indicating that the media content associated with the uniqueidentifier is available for streaming on the transportation vehicle; usethe unique identifier for tracking usage of the media content on thetransportation vehicle by the plurality of devices; automatically deletethe media content from the storage device based on the uniqueidentifier, the tracked usage and the indicator; and update a datastructure to indicate that the media content has been deleted.
 9. Thenon-transitory machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein storagecapacity usage is tracked on the transportation vehicle and the mediacontent is deleted to increase available storage space for other mediacontent.
 10. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 8,wherein an entertainment system on the transportation vehicle tracksusage of the media content by a user for presenting content related tothe media content.
 11. The non-transitory machine readable medium ofclaim 8, wherein the transportation vehicle is an aircraft and the mediacontent is received in-flight via a satellite connection.
 12. Thenon-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the updateddata structure is transmitted to a ground based server system to tracklive media content provided to a plurality of aircraft.
 13. Thenon-transitory machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein the uniqueidentifier is provided to a seat device of the transportation vehicleand the unique identifier indicates a storage location of the mediacontent to the seat device.
 14. The non-transitory machine readablemedium of claim 8, wherein the transportation vehicle is one of a bus, atrain, a recreational vehicle and a ship.
 15. A system comprising: amemory containing machine readable medium comprising machine executablecode having stored thereon instructions; and a processor on atransportation vehicle coupled to the memory, the processor configuredto execute the machine executable code to: receive media content by thetransportation vehicle while the transportation vehicle is mobile, themedia content including a media file and metadata associated with themedia file, the metadata indicating a media file type and media contentsize; parse the metadata to ascertain a start date when the mediacontent can be presented to a device on the transportation vehicle andan end date when media content is to become inaccessible; dynamicallygenerate on the transportation vehicle upon receiving the media contentand parsing the metadata, a unique identifier for the media content, theunique identifier based on an identifier of the transportation vehicle,a random number and a timestamp indicating when the media content wasreceived by the transportation vehicle; use the unique identifier totransform the metadata; store the media content with the transformedmetadata on a storage device on the transportation vehicle, the storedmedia content using an indicator to indicate when the media content isto be deleted, based on the end date; transmit the unique identifier toa plurality of devices on the transportation vehicle indicating that themedia content associated with the unique identifier is available forstreaming on the transportation vehicle; use the unique identifier fortracking usage of the media content on the transportation vehicle by theplurality of devices; automatically delete the media content from thestorage device based on the unique identifier, the tracked usage and theindicator; and update a data structure to indicate that the mediacontent has been deleted.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein storagecapacity usage is tracked on the transportation vehicle and the mediacontent is deleted to increase available storage space for other mediacontent.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein an entertainment system onthe transportation vehicle tracks usage of the media content by a userfor presenting content related to the media content.
 18. The system ofclaim 15, wherein the transportation vehicle is an aircraft and themedia content is received in-flight via a satellite connection.
 19. Thesystem of claim 18, wherein the updated data structure is transmitted toa ground based server system to track live media content provided to aplurality of aircraft.
 20. The system of claim 15, wherein the uniqueidentifier is provided to a seat device of the transportation vehicleand the unique identifier indicates a storage location of the mediacontent to the seat device.